The State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism released the ninth and latest prevention and control guideline for Covid-19 on Tuesday.

According to the guideline, inbound travelers only need to undergo centralized isolation for seven days, rather than 14 days under the previous rule, and then spend three days in self-quarantine at home. This rule also applies to close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases.

In addition, the guideline formulates new standards for listing areas assessed at risk of the virus' spread.

The designation of high-risk area usually refers to the residence of confirmed infections and can only cover a specific residential compound. People living there are required to stay at home.

Medium-risk refers to places where confirmed infected patients have visited and stayed for some time. Such an area's perimeter should be decided based on epidemiological results, instead of the previous convention of listing a whole neighborhood or village. People there are not allowed to travel outside the area.

The remaining areas in a district or county with at least one medium- or high-risk area will be classified as low risk. When people living there travel outside, they should complete two nucleic acid tests in three days at their destinations.